Idaho murders suspect’s lawyers say DNA evidence unconstitutional, search warrants tainted by police misconduct


Attorneys for a man charged with murder in connection with the killings of four University of Idaho students are asking a judge to throw out most of the evidence in the case because they say it all hinges on an unconstitutional genetic investigation process.

Bryan Kohberger’s defense team also contends that the search warrants in the case were tainted by police misconduct. They will make their arguments during a two-day hearing starting Thursday morning, part of which will be closed to the public. If they are successful, it could throw a major wrench in the prosecution’s case before the trial starts in August.

Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were killed in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022, at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho. When asked to enter a plea last year, Kohberger stood silent, prompting a judge to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.

Idaho student murders victims
From left, Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle.

Kohberger’s attorneys say law enforcement violated his constitutional rights when they used a process called Investigative Genetic Genealogy, or IGG, to identify possible suspects.

“There would be no investigation into him without that original constitutional violation,” attorneys Jay Weston Logsdon and Ann Taylor wrote in a court filing. They later continued, “Without IGG, there is no case, no request for his phone records, surveillance of his parents’ home, no DNA taken from the garbage out front. Because the IGG analysis is the origin of this matter, everything in the affidavit should be excised.”

See also  Car strikes pedestrians in Munich ahead of Vance arrival

The IGG process often starts when DNA found at the scene of a crime doesn’t yield any results through standard law enforcement databases. When that happens, investigators may look at all the variations, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, that are in the DNA sample. Those SNPs, or “snips,” are then uploaded to a genealogy database like GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA to look for possible relatives of the person whose DNA was found at the scene.

In Kohberger’s case, investigators said they found “touch DNA,” or trace DNA, on the sheath of a knife that was found in the home where the students were fatally stabbed. The FBI used the IGG process on that DNA and the information identified Kohberger as a possible suspect.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson and the rest of the prosecution team say there is nothing unconstitutional about the use of IGG, noting that Kohberger’s relatives voluntarily provided their own DNA to a genetic genealogy service. They’ve also argued in court filings that case law is clear: Defendants have no reasonable right to privacy for DNA that is left at the scene of a crime.

The defense team also says that once Kohberger was identified as a possible suspect, law enforcement officers either purposely or recklessly lied or omitted crucial information when they asked the court to issue search warrants for his apartment, his parents’ house, his car, his cellphone and even for his own DNA. They want all of that evidence kept out of the trial as well.

Murder Suspect Bryan Kohberger Attends Pre-Trial Hearing In Idaho
Bryan Kohberger listens to arguments during a hearing to overturn his grand jury indictment on October 26, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho.

Kai Eiselein / Getty Images


Specific details about the alleged police misconduct are hidden from public view, however; 4th District Judge Steven Hippler has kept most of those court filings, along with many of the court documents on the IGG evidence, under seal. Part of the hearing starting Thursday will be held behind closed doors because the judge says he doesn’t want potential jurors “tainted” by hearing about any evidence that might not be allowed in trial.

On Wednesday, a coalition of news organizations including The Associated Press asked the judge to reconsider the secrecy.

“In any criminal case, I would submit that it’s of extreme public interest to know whether a law enforcement officer sworn to tell the truth … made reckless or false statements” during an investigation, the news organizations’ attorney, Wendy Olson, said during a hearing on Wednesday. The U.S. Supreme Court has found that the public and the press have a First Amendment right to open court proceedings, she said, and that open courts also help to protect the rights of the accused.

“Openness and transparency are more important than ever in maintaining and restoring confidence in our government institutions,” Olson said.

The judge was unswayed.

“I don’t think much has changed in terms of the need to protect the jury pool here, given the intense media scrutiny that has and continues to follow this case,” Hippler said. “We will be challenged under the best of circumstances in obtaining a jury that has not been overly exposed to this … and in particular, exposed to evidence that may not come into this trial.”

The judge said no one would be allowed into the courtroom but that the open portions of the hearing would be livestreamed from the court’s YouTube page.

“He serves to die,” victim’s mother says

In November, Kristi and Steve Goncalves, the parents of Kaylee Goncalves, said the details of the case show the death penalty is merited.

“You’ve got four victims, all in one house – that’s more than enough,” Steve Goncalves said.

Kristi Goncalves said she talked to the coroner and knows what happened to her daughter.

“If he did anything like he did to our daughter to the others, then he deserves to die,” she said.

Steve Goncalves told “48 Hours” last year that “there’s evidence to show that she awakened and tried to get out of that situation,” saying “she was trapped” based on the way the bed was set up

Goncalves’ family said in the spring that they were frustrated by how long it has taken the case to progress through the judicial system.

“This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions,” the family said in a statement.


Families of Idaho student murders victims share new details to “48 Hours”

05:15



Source link

Related posts:

EU Message to Zelensky: You Are Not Alone

What Greenland’s Resources Mean for the EU

EC: First disbursements from the Growth Plan for WB between the second and third quarters of this ye...

Vicepremiér P. Kmec: Slovensku sa darí čerpať peniaze najrýchlejšie spomedzi štátov EÚ

Slovenia is not inclined to condition the disbursement of cohesion funds on reforms

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever participates in second consultation on Ukraine

Belgium supports additional budgetary room for defense

Dodiku Trial: Test for the Judiciary and the European Path of BiH

Ukraine: the military effort for security in Europe will have “consequences for French public financ...

Prouza criticizes the EU’s vision for agriculture, Výborný considers it a solid foundation

EC announces that farmers will not be forced to sell their products below production costs

Šefčovič in the USA: EU wants to avoid the scenario of customs measures and countermeasures

Fico: In Paris, a meeting of friends of war is taking place, Slovakia has nothing to do there

Trump’s IVF order: Democrats allege ‘PR stunt’ as anti-abortion groups bristle 

Judge signals he’s taking time to decide on dropping Adams charges

Microsoft unveils company’s first quantum computing chip

5 things to watch at this year’s CPAC

Hochul to Trump on congestion pricing: ‘We’ll see you in court’

Acting Social Security commissioner clarifies claims about people older than 100 getting benefits

Allies troll critics with references to King Trump

Cheney: Trump is ‘antithesis of everything Ronald Reagan stood for’

USAID contractors ask judge to hold Trump admin in civil contempt for violating order to lift spendi...

DHS fires roughly 400 probationary employees

Watch: Trump gives remarks at Saudi-led investors conference in Miami

Live updates: Trump says he plans to give Americans ’20 percent’ from DOGE cost cuts

Former NFL punter arrested for protest against pro-Trump city council

Trump floats using DOGE savings to pay Americans, pay down debt

Senate GOP dismayed by Trump, Zelensky war of words

Key GOP votes withhold support from House plan despite Trump’s backing

Trump says he plans to meet with some Democrats next week

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *